Car-brake



- 2 Sheets-Sheet; 1. J. HAHN.

GAR BRAKE.

(No Model.)

PatentedSept. 20, 1887.

N. PETzRs. Fnma-Lnhagmphnr. wnsningmn. D. c.

(No Model.) 2 sheets-Sheet 2',

J. HAHN.

GAR BRAKE.

,A kPatented Sept. 20, 1887.

IlNirsn STATES Fries.

A'rsN'r CAR-BRAKE..

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 370,190, dated September 20, 1887.

Application filed May 1S, 1886. Renewed July 26, 1887. ASerial No. 245,363. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN HAHN, a citizen of the United States, residing at St. Louis, in the State of Missouri, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Mechanism for Operating Brakes, Railway-Switches, dac.; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters and figures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

Figure l is a side view of a freight-car, showing my improved brake-shoe combined with an adjustable rack. Fig. 2 is a detail showing the brake-shoe released from the axle. Fig. 3 shows in detail the brake applied. Fig. el is a perspective View of the hollow brakeshoe, indicating by broken parts the automatic oiler and the device for carrying off the dbris of the oil. Fig. 5 is a top view of a car or railroad-carriage, showing the central brake-actuating device thereon. Figs. 6 and 7 are details of the rack, its casing, and transmitting-gear. Fig. 8 is a sectional view of a coupling for the line rope or chain. Fig. 9 is an end view of the coupling, showing the beveled split grasping portions of the locking device. Fig. l0 shows in section a springbarrel take-up for the line ropes or cables. Fig. 11 is a detail of the front part of a carriage, showing in vertical cross-section the rack which actuates the brakes.

This invention relates to certain improvements in railroad-car brakes, wherein I employ an adjustable rack bar or bars substantially like the bar which Ihavefully described in my application marked Case A,77 bearing even date with the filing of this, which rackbar is not herein claimed, broadly, as the teeth thereof for the present purpose may be omitted.

The object ofthe invention is, mainly, to automatically apply the brakes and lubricate the axle; also, to provide for effecting a coupling of the line-ropes and to take up the slack thereof.

Other features of my invention, together with those above briefly referred to, will be fully understood when taken in connection with the claims and the annexed drawings.

A designates, for example, part of a freightcar in side elevation, showing the adjustable rack-bar A applied to the bed thereof. I contemplate applying the rack-bar to a locomotive, a tender, and also to any of the carriages of a railroad. The front or free end of this rack is 'preferabl y upturned, and I shall employ on the road-bed engaging bevellended spur-wheels, (not shown in the drawings,) which I have fully explained in my case lettered A, and not herein claimed.

B designates a hanger, which is one of the guides for a horizontal transverse bar, C, upon which the free end of the rack A is supported. This bar O, together with its rack, is vertically adjustable. The lifting-bar which I am now describing is preferably located below and at or about the middle of the length of the truck-shafts, and it is given vertical vibrating movement by the following devices, which may be under the control of the engineer in his cab.

D designates a case or housing, which is suitably secured to the roof of the car or carriage, in which are guides for a rack, E,whic`n is connected by ropes or chains H,that extend through the train of carriages and are coupled together, as I willvllereinafter explain.

By reference to Figs. 6 and 7 it will be seen that inside of the case D, I have a series of spurred wheels, a a', adapted to engage with and to guide straightly a rack, E. The spurwheel a is keyed near a vertical shaft, F, which may have a hand-wheel, b, on its upper end, as shownin Fig. 11, by which aper- -son on the roof of a carriage may turn this shaft. The lower part of shaft F is screwthreaded, and is tapped through the bar Cfor the purpose of giving vertical movement thereto, and thereby adjusting one end of the rack -A up and down for proper engagement with a spur-wheel on the roadway which actuates the switch, as fully explained in my application marked Oase A7 and bearing even date with the filing of this.

G G designate cases, in each one of which is a convolute spring, c, secured to the case or barrel at one end and to the shaft c' at the other end. The object of the spring c is to TOO wind up the line-rope Hand hold it under proper tension. This compensating device accommodates itself to the lateral shucking and endwise motion of a train of cars, and it is provided with a springactuated pressureslide, d, which bears onthe rope or chain H, and by frictional contact therewith serves as an auxiliary in maintaining the tension of this rope. This device is represented enlarged by Fig. 10 and attached to the' rope H and bolt J.

By reference to Figs. 9 and 10 it will be seen that I employ, in combination with the rope H, a coupling therefor. This coupling consists of a case or tube, J, having an eye on one end, which is pivoted to the rack-bar E and transversely slotted at e e'. At e gripping-arms are pivoted to ears on the outer side of the tube or sheath J, and so connected to the contracted ends of grasping-handles e2 e, which are beveled at e3, that by` compressing these handles the hooking-arms will be thrown outwardly. The'sheath or tube J is adapted to receive a bolt, J, having a pointed end and an annular groove, f, posterior thereto, as shown in dotted lines, Fig. 8.

By this device a coupling or uncoupling lof the line-rope can be effected quickly, and the coupling when made is secure.

The rack-bar (or bars)` A is dovetailed transversely, vand thus adapted to receive corresponding tenons, g, which are formed on the bottoms of chambered brake shoes or blocks S. Each brake-shoe S is scored out at s to fit snugly against the axle R of the truck-wheels T; or a friction-collar may be formed integral with or shrunk on the axle R, to afford a braking-surface for the shoe or block S. This shoe is prevented from lateral displacement on its rack A by means of aspringactuated bolt, h, having a nger-piece, h', extended through a slot made through one end of the shoe, as shown in Fig. 4. On opposite sides of the score s of this shoe are chambers s', which may communicate `with each other `below the wall of the scored portion, and which are provided with beveled sliding covers t t, having spring-catches t t. For the purpose of automatically lubricating the axle or fcollar thereon when the shoe is caused to impinge against it, I combine with the shoe S an oil-supply valve, o, which consists of a stem having a buttonhead and guided by ears iixed to the block S in a feedchannel, w,

. communicating with the oil-receptacle s. The

button-head of this valve o protrudes into the scored space s, so that when the rack A is raised in the act of applying the brakes the said head will impinge against the axle (ora collar thereon) and be forced inward, thusallowing the oil in chamber s to iiow uponthe axle. When the brakeshoe is depressed, the

spring s2 will retract the valve v and cut ofi" the oil-supply.

My obj ect in supplying oil as above ldescribed is mainly to prevent undue heating and grinding of the brake-shoe and axle.

In lieu of a handwheel (shown in Fig. 1) on the shaft F, which is used for raising and depressing the rack A', I contemplate mounting the casing D upon supports D', rigidly secured to the carriage,as shown in Fig. 7, and using a guide, D2, and a collar iixcd to its upper end provided with a pivoted or folding handle, y, for the purpose above described.

The rack-bar A', which is adjustable up and down by the means described, is used not only as a support for a brake-shoe, but also as the means by which the engineer can engage it with a spur-wheel on the road-bed, as above mentioned.

Having described my invention, I claim 1. The combination, with a railway-carriage, of a vertically-movable bar bearing a brakeshoe, of the rack E, the screw-threaded shaft, its pinion, and the line-rope connected to said rack, substantially as described.

2. The combination, with the shaft F, for raising and lowering the bar bearing the brake, of the spur-wheel keyed on this shaft, the endwise-movable rack engaging said wheel and guided in a case secured to the topof the car,

the case J, attached to said rack and slotted, as shown, apointed bolt, J anuularly grooved, and the pullrope H, all constructed and adapted to operate with a spring-actuated gripping device, substantially as specified.

3. The combination, with the line-rope H on top of the car, and the brake-shaft F, bearing a spurred pinion, of the rack engaging therewith, ay coupling device, as described, and the spring-actuated tension device connected to the coupling pin or bolt J', and also to the line-rope H, substantially as described.

4. A.brakeshoe chambered as described,

`in combination with a brake-bar, fastening devices for the shoe, and an automatic oil-sup' ply valve, substantially as described.

5. A brake-shoe chambered and provided with an oil-supply valve, as described, in combination with a bar which is allowed to-vibrate vertically, and which is adjustable by means substantially as described.

6. The combination of a vertically-vibrating bar pivoted to the bed of a railway-carriage,-

a brake-shoe chambered and providedwith IOO an automatic supply-valve, and devices for raising said bar, as described.

7. The chambered brake-shoe, scored as described and provided with an oil-supply channel, in combination with a spring actuated valve in this channel adapted to be opened by contact with the axle or a collar thereon, substantially as described. I V

Intestimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JOHN HAHN.

Witnesses: B. W.l FERGUsoN, J AMEs J. SHEEHY. 

